Morning Rundown: Lilja deals with sitting

VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- In the season's first week, Andreas Lilja was signed by the Ducks in a time of dire need as they were without both free-agent signings Toni Lydman and Andy Sutton on a blue line that was being exposed and victimized.

Now with a surplus of defensemen, Lilja (right) finds himself a bystander these days and being a healthy scratch more often than playing is naturally a situation that he's not crazy about.

"Obviously, it's not a role I want," said Lilja, who has been in the lineup twice since Nov.16. "I don't know why it got that way. To be honest, I don't have a clue. I just got to work hard at practice and wait for my chance I guess. Prove that I'm important to this team and that I need to play."

Lilja, 35, has steadily become the odd man out in the rotation as Luca Sbisa's skating and puck-moving abilities have earned him a regular third pairing slot while Sutton returned to action on Nov. 21 after sitting out six weeks due to a broken right thumb suffered on opening night.

Complicating matters is the fact that Ducks GM Bob Murray is carrying eight defensemen, which has also made Sheldon Brookbank a regular in the press box. Lilja said he understands that the coaching staff is left with a tough decision now that they're much more deeper than at the start of the season.

But Lilja also can't help but feel that he's more a spare part than a necessary piece.

"I felt I was playing great," said Lilja, who has a minus-3 rating in 17 games. "I did the job I'm supposed to do, I guess. I think the problem was they signed me when Sutton was hurt and now he's back. And they've got their guys back that they probably sat down and planned for during the summer.

"It's a tough situation. I'm a late signing. I don't know. We'll see what happens."

With a $4.25-million commitment to Sutton over this and next season, Lilja could be someone that the Ducks opt to move at some point and the veteran's $600,000 price tag for this season is attractive. But Lilja said he hasn't discussed his situation with either Carlyle or Murray.

"Not yet," he said. "I haven't asked anything. We'll see."

And so Lilja works and waits until Carlyle is dissatisfied with what he's seeing in the Ducks' end.

"It's just really a boring situation I guess," he said. "It's even more boring when you lose. Because you feel that you can make a difference out there."

-- The Ducks had an optional skate with just a handful of players going on the ice after a short team meeting. But Carlyle intimated after Tuesday's shootout win over Edmonton that he might make some lineup changes for tonight's game against Vancouver after shuffling the defense pairings against the Oilers.

For instance, Sutton was playing alongside Toni Lydman while Sbisa was paired with Lubomir Visnovsky for several shifts. Paul Mara and Cam Fowler played together as usual but even they were split up for a brief time. But Carlyle didn't like how the Oilers were able to get behind the defense to receive stretch passes.

It could be an opportunity for either Lilja or Brookbank to get back in.

"Every once in a while you shake things up a little bit," Carlyle said. "I'm going to have to contemplate putting some people in the lineup. They've been great, great soliders for us and have worked extremely hard. Some level of some other players has got to come up."

-- Joffrey Lupul was booed loudly by the Rexall Place crowd during his shootout attempt even though he's from the Edmonton suburb of Fort Saskatchewan and had several friends and family members in attendance.

It was a bit of a rough reception for a hometown kid who is just returning to action after a year of recovery from a dangerous back infection. The fans apparently haven't forgotten his one horrific 2006-07 season in Edmonton -- 16 goals and 28 points in 81 games -- following his trade from Anaheim for Chris Pronger.

Not that the booing bothered Lupul, who scored on his shootout try.

"I was just so focused on the shot," he said. "I honestly didn't really notice that much. I'd probably rather them boo me than cheer me since we're on the road anyways."

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